Data storage devices are commonly used to store data in computers, data bases, digital video recorders, and other devices.
FIG. 1 shows a typical data storage device 110 including a storage media 125, which may comprise a hard disk, solid state memory (e.g., flash memory), or other type of memory. The data storage device 110 also includes a host interface 115, a buffer 130, a storage media interface 120, and a microprocessor 140. The host interface 115 interfaces the data storage device 110 to a host device (e.g., a computer processor). The storage media interface 120 reads data from and writes data to the storage media 125. For the example where the storage media 125 comprises a hard disk, the storage media interface 120 may include a read/write head to magnetically read data from and write data to the hard disk. The buffer 130 temporarily stores data between the storage media interface 120 and the host interface 115.
The microprocessor 140 controls operations of the data storage device 110 to execute read/write commands from the host device. For a host read command, the microprocessor 140 instructs the storage media interface 120 to retrieve the requested data from the storage media 125 and store the data in the buffer 130 and instructs the host device interface 115 to send the data from the buffer 130 to the host device. For a host write command, the microprocessor 140 instructs the host device interface 115 to store the received data in the buffer 130 and instructs the storage media interface 120 to write the data from the buffer 130 to the storage media 125.
There is a need for improved data protection, data movement and/or data manipulation in data storage devices.